Azerbaijan transfers international problems over to Karabakh conflict
"Under the ethnic origin of the ruling clan in Baku, the Kurdish subject area is one of the most sensitive topics in present-day Azerbaijan. It is not enough that representatives of the above-mentioned clan occupy high posts in the Azeri government. The fact is that the founder of the Nakhijevan clan, former chief of the Azeri SSR National Security Committee Heydar Aliyev took part in formation and training of Turkey's number one enemy - the Kurdistan Workers' Party," says a statement issued by the NKR Foreign Ministry as regards the Kurdish theme gambled by the Azeri authorities.
According to the NKR MFA, Turkey's cool attitude toward Aliyev senior is conditioned by this very fact. "During a visit to Baku in January 2003, head of AKP party Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that PKK cells were functioning in Azerbaijan. Erdogan's statement aroused indignation and then-Minister of National Security Namik Abbasov had to issue a disclaimer," the statement says.
"In this context, the Azeri authorities' attempts to disown the Kurdish problem fit in the republic's policy of solving a problem 'at the expense of somebody else'. Azeri media repeatedly reports that Kurds settle down in former Armenian villages of northern Karabakh.
"Azeri authorities and structures financed by them claimed presence of Al Qaeda camps, nuclear weapon laboratories and nuclear waste landfills in NKR. The Azeri delegation to PACE circulated a document saying that Armenians used nuclear weapons during the 1991-94 war.
"Understanding the absurdity of making such statement on the state level, Azerbaijan put forth Nizami Bahmanov, the so-called head of Azeri community of Karabakh," NKR MFA said.
According to the NKR MFA, Turkey's cool attitude toward Aliyev senior is conditioned by this very fact. "During a visit to Baku in January 2003, head of AKP party Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that PKK cells were functioning in Azerbaijan. Erdogan's statement aroused indignation and then-Minister of National Security Namik Abbasov had to issue a disclaimer," the statement says.
"In this context, the Azeri authorities' attempts to disown the Kurdish problem fit in the republic's policy of solving a problem 'at the expense of somebody else'. Azeri media repeatedly reports that Kurds settle down in former Armenian villages of northern Karabakh.
"Azeri authorities and structures financed by them claimed presence of Al Qaeda camps, nuclear weapon laboratories and nuclear waste landfills in NKR. The Azeri delegation to PACE circulated a document saying that Armenians used nuclear weapons during the 1991-94 war.
"Understanding the absurdity of making such statement on the state level, Azerbaijan put forth Nizami Bahmanov, the so-called head of Azeri community of Karabakh," NKR MFA said.
